Bucky Walters
The third baseman who became one of baseball's most dominant wartime pitchers threw harder than anyone expected after his position switch in 1934. Walters transformed from a light-hitting infielder into a two-time MVP winner, posting a ridiculous 333 ERA+ in his peak season that dwarfed league competition.
His 198 career wins and 3.30 ERA over 17 seasons tell only part of the story. Walters struck out more than 1,100 batters in an era when pitchers worked to contact, and his 134 career ERA+ proves he consistently outperformed his contemporaries by a wide margin.
The six-time All-Star's MVP hardware came during World War II when baseball talent was diluted, but his sustained excellence across nearly two decades validates his place among the game's better hurlers. Few position players have ever made such a successful transition to the mound.
Career · Hitting
19 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | BSN | 9 | 38 | 0 | 0 | .211 | — | — |
| 1932 | BSN | 22 | 75 | 0 | 4 | .187 | — | — |
| 1933 | BOS | 52 | 195 | 4 | 28 | .256 | — | — |
| 1934 | PHI | 106 | 388 | 8 | 56 | .250 | — | — |
| 1935 | PHI | 49 | 96 | 0 | 6 | .250 | — | — |
| 1936 | PHI | 64 | 121 | 1 | 16 | .240 | — | — |
| 1937 | PHI | 56 | 137 | 1 | 16 | .277 | — | — |
| 1938 | CIN | 51 | 99 | 1 | 8 | .192 | — | — |
| 1939 | CIN | 40 | 120 | 1 | 16 | .325 | — | — |
| 1940 | CIN | 37 | 117 | 1 | 18 | .205 | — | — |
| 1941 | CIN | 39 | 106 | 0 | 9 | .189 | — | — |
| 1942 | CIN | 40 | 99 | 2 | 13 | .242 | — | — |
| 1943 | CIN | 37 | 90 | 1 | 12 | .267 | — | — |
| 1944 | CIN | 37 | 107 | 0 | 13 | .280 | — | — |
| 1945 | CIN | 24 | 61 | 3 | 8 | .230 | — | — |
| 1946 | CIN | 24 | 55 | 0 | 5 | .127 | — | — |
| 1947 | CIN | 20 | 45 | 0 | 4 | .267 | — | — |
| 1948 | CIN | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2 | .267 | — | — |
| 1950 | BSN | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| Career | 715 | 1966 | 23 | 234 | .243 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
16 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | PHI | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 333 | 7 | 1.429 |
| 1935 | PHI | 24 | 151.0 | 9 | 9 | 4.17 | 104 | 40 | 1.563 |
| 1936 | PHI | 40 | 258.0 | 11 | 21 | 4.26 | 108 | 66 | 1.547 |
| 1937 | PHI | 37 | 246.3 | 14 | 15 | 4.75 | 91 | 87 | 1.535 |
| 1938 | CIN | 39 | 251.0 | 15 | 14 | 4.20 | 104 | 93 | 1.462 |
| 1939 | CIN | 39 | 319.0 | 27 | 11 | 2.29 | 187 | 137 | 1.125 |
| 1940 | CIN | 36 | 305.0 | 22 | 10 | 2.48 | 170 | 115 | 1.092 |
| 1941 | CIN | 37 | 302.0 | 19 | 15 | 2.83 | 139 | 129 | 1.258 |
| 1942 | CIN | 34 | 253.7 | 15 | 14 | 2.66 | 134 | 109 | 1.167 |
| 1943 | CIN | 34 | 246.3 | 15 | 15 | 3.54 | 99 | 80 | 1.433 |
| 1944 | CIN | 34 | 285.0 | 23 | 8 | 2.40 | 149 | 77 | 1.123 |
| 1945 | CIN | 22 | 168.0 | 10 | 10 | 2.68 | 137 | 45 | 1.292 |
| 1946 | CIN | 22 | 151.3 | 10 | 7 | 2.56 | 140 | 60 | 1.388 |
| 1947 | CIN | 20 | 122.0 | 8 | 8 | 5.75 | 69 | 43 | 1.525 |
| 1948 | CIN | 7 | 35.0 | 0 | 3 | 4.63 | 89 | 19 | 1.714 |
| 1950 | BSN | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 97 | 0 | 1.750 |
| Career | 428 | 3104.6 | 198 | 160 | — | — | 1107 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.